Apple AirPods – Unexpectedly Great

When Apple announced the AirPods back in September 2016, I wasn’t impressed. They were Apple’s current EarPods with the cable cut off. At least that was my impression.

Maybe I was blinded by the new iPhone 7 and the new Apple Watch Apple announced as well. But I just was not excited for these. At the time, I said I wasn’t going to buy them when they were released.

Boy, am I glad that I did.

Design

If you own an iPhone more than likely you are familiar with Apple’s EarPods that come packaged in the box with a new iPhone purchase. There are a couple of different sensors on the AirPods and a couple flashes on shininess. Other than that, they are nearly identical looking to the EarPods.

At first I was telling people that if the EarPods do not fit in your ear, neither will the AirPods. While that still may be true for some people, that is not a fully encompassing statement. The fact that these AirPods are wireless, the lack of cord makes a huge difference in how well they stay in your ears. I can write about it all day, but until you try them, you wont fully understand.

One negative and this will vary from person to person, is the way they look when you wear them. It took me a lot of courage to wear these to the gym for the first time. This was right after my mom laughed at me when I showed them to her. They honestly look goofy. Eventually, this will be the norm and everyone will have them. But as of right now, in a place that is slow to adopt new technology, you may get a couple of silly looks while wearing these in public.

Performance

I am by no means an audiophile. Though I love my music, when it comes to quality of sound in headphones, as long as it sounds “good” it is ok by me!

The AirPods are powered by Apple’s new W1 chip. What is fascinating about this chip is that it allows you to pair your AirPods across all of your devices (that is signed into the same iCloud account) with little to no effort.

The software integration is very neat too. You can ask Siri what the battery life is or you can check the battery widget to see the status of the battery case and the AirPods.

The AirPods aren’t just for iPhones or Apple devices. These also use standard bluetooth technology to connect to your Android phone or tablet. I’ve come across a couple of hardcore Android users online that have been using these as their primary listening device.

Charging these are fairly easy and uses Apple’s standard lighting port.. It comes in a little dental floss-looking charging case that you store the AirPods in while not in use. The charging case, according to Apple, gives you up to 24 hours of battery life. On a single charge the AirPods will give you five hours of battery life. Apple also advertises, after putting the AirPods in the charging case for 15 minutes, you will get three hours of battery life.

I wear mine a lot at night and when I wake up they still have a little juice in them.

Price

VERDICT

The AirPods are the first Apple product in years that I can outright tell you to “go buy right now”. These little pods of joy are amazing. From the way they pair with all of your devices to the way they feel weightless while wearing them. I was very surprised how something like this pulled me in and didn’t let me go. The only reason, I would say one wouldn’t like them, is if you didn’t like the fit in your ears.

1 thought on “Apple AirPods – Unexpectedly Great”

[…] To charge the case, it charges by USB Type C. This is becoming the standard in the Android marketplace and accessories in the tech world. The great thing about USB Type C is that it is reversible, like Apple’s Lightning cable. Keyword there, *like. While I am glad ZeroLemon is using the Type C cable over the outdated Micro USB, I do wish they could of used Apple’s lightning cable. You can find other battery cases out there with lighting input but…they don’t have wireless charging. Being that it uses a different charger than your iPhone, your earbuds that come with your phone will not work with this case on. You will have to opt for bluetooth headphones or my favorite Apple AirPods. […]